Digital transformation: SMEs are not making enough use of AI potential
Eckhart Hilgenstock, a consultant and interim manager for small and medium-sized businesses, sees a significant need to catch up in terms of digital transformation. Companies have numerous digital tools at their disposal, but they hardly use them—particularly when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence and agentic AI in sales.
In order to survive in the current difficult economic environment, companies have a large number of digital levers at their disposal, but they often do not make enough use of them. Eckhart Hilgenstock, who works as a consultant, coach and interim manager for SMEs, comes to this conclusion. During his assignments, he repeatedly identifies a «considerable need to catch up» in the following areas: business development, digital transformation, customer loyalty, willingness of the workforce to change and business process optimization.
Business development is neglected
Business development is regularly neglected, reports the SME expert. In his experience, many companies still work with traditional sales methods such as telephone acquisition and email campaigns, but their success rate continues to fall. Newer methods of addressing customers, such as social selling, are the exception - and even there the potential usually remains untapped, he has found during project assignments. This is all the more surprising given that the next evolutionary stage has already been established: Agentic AI in sales.
Modern AI agents independently take over lead generation by evaluating and prioritizing signals from various sources - such as website visits, company data, job advertisements, curated data platforms or topics that someone deals with on LinkedIn, for example - in compliance with the GDPR. Hyper-personalized outreach sequences are possible across various platforms. The «four-way harmony of CRM, agentic AI, social selling and data-driven signals» is hardly used. «Yet this combination is a real competitive advantage,» says Hilgenstock.
Distrust of AI prevails
However, Eckhart Hilgenstock analyzes that it is not only in business development but also in other areas that SMEs are not driving the digital transformation forward fast enough. There is still a great deal of mistrust, especially when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence. He has found: «The uncertainties and even AI hallucinations are holding many companies back from using artificial intelligence. Fear prevails, the opportunities are misjudged. People want to wait until it works one hundred percent.»
The consultant, coach and interim manager considers this behavior to be «fundamentally wrong». He advises differentiation: «AI is already advanced enough to take on many routine tasks and develop proposals for decisions - and that is exactly what it should be used for. On the other hand, it would be negligent to give AI the power to make decisions.»
Wide range of applications for AI
Hilgenstock cites examples from his professional experience: sorting incoming emails, preparing responses, drafting evaluations, coordinating appointments, automatically creating minutes from meetings, pre-structuring sales reports, identifying and automatically qualifying leads based on real-time signals, initiating personalized initial contacts using AI agents in compliance with GDPR, compiling market and competitor analyses, designing presentations, pre-sorting customer inquiries, preparing invoice audits, calculating forecasts and scenario analyses - the list is long.
«Today's AI can be used for all of these tasks without any problems as long as the final evaluation, prioritization and decision remains the responsibility of humans,» explains Eckhart Hilgenstock.
Fully automated lead generation with signals
The sales expert considers fully automated lead generation with signals to be a particularly effective example of agentic AI in SMEs: AI agents recognize which companies are actively looking for a solution. For example, because they have visited their own website, because they interact with relevant content on LinkedIn or because company data indicates growth signals.
AI models, agents or software then create individualized initial messages that are sent automatically and at scale via outreach tools - all without any manual individual work by the sales team. The route to the SQL, the Sales Qualified Lead, which is used by the sales team to take action, is intelligently automated with AI. «This is not science fiction, it is tried and tested and ready for use today,» emphasizes Eckhart Hilgenstock. He says: «Social selling and agentic AI complement each other perfectly: the human nurtures the relationship, the AI takes over the signal evaluation and the first qualified contact, the so-called warm-up.»
AI chatbots in customer service
AI can also take on important tasks in customer service. The experienced manager cites AI chatbots as the best example. «A modern chatbot can answer the majority of simple questions quickly and correctly, which provides the enquirer with fast information and gives Customer Service more time for more complex questions,» says Eckhart Hilgenstock.
He also clarifies: «However, the step to the next level, i.e. talking to a contact person, must be intuitive and quick. The AI chatbot must not serve as an end in itself, but only as a first point of contact.» Further examples: AI analyses call logs and recognizes recurring problems, creates automatic summaries for service employees, predicts termination risks based on customer behaviour, optimizes deployment plans in the call center based on demand forecasts or supports quality assurance by evaluating calls.
AI integration into core systems
Eckhart Hilgenstock: «Companies have numerous IT systems such as ERP, CRM, SCM, BI, PLM, DMS, etc., which can increasingly be expanded to include AI functions. And that's exactly what companies should do.» The expert considers process mining to be helpful: AI analyses real process data from IT systems, identifies bottlenecks, deviations and inefficiencies in real time and thus enables the data-based optimization of business processes.
However, he emphasizes that the focus must not be on the technology for its own sake, but «it must always be about concrete use cases with comprehensible benefits». As an order of magnitude, he recommends aiming for a return on investment within one year for AI projects, with employee training also playing a key role in success alongside the technology, he emphasizes.
Preparing and training employees
Eckhart Hilgenstock explains: «Digital transformation only works if employees are prepared and trained for it. It is important to ensure that those affected perceive the AI support as positive because it enables them to achieve better results faster and relieves them of tedious routine work.»
Eckhart Hilgenstock is one of the most sought-after interim executives in Germany. Companies regularly bring him on board as a temporary executive when it comes to profitable growth and sales as well as digitalization and the use of AI in organizations. «Eckhart Hilgenstock is regarded as a role model in the industry,» WirtschaftsWoche wrote about him. He gained his experience as General Manager EMEA Sales Global Accounts at Microsoft and previously as Managing Director DACH at Lotus Development and IBM Germany.
Eckhart Hilgenstock is a member of the Diplomatic Council, a global think tank with advisory status at the United Nations (UN) and author of the book «KI-Einsatz in Unternehmen: Opportunities, Risks, Successes» (ISBN 978-3-98674-114-3), published by the think tank's publishing house. He is one of the authors of the highly regarded «United Interim Economic Report 2025». The Diplomatic Council Future Academy has awarded him the title «Top Interim Manager 2025/26».
